Lov

Lovio sam zečeve
obilno i nečujno:
nišan je ubijao, nije bilo pucnja,
krznene su vreće padale bez odgode
na suhu travu sumraka. Ostajali su
kruti, otvorenih očiju, bez kapi krvi
na stegnutim ranama, zapravo smiješni,
neopasni u toj smrti koja nije
preotela život, pa je bila prozirna.
Meni nije nestajalo metaka,
a ni njima smrti: stalno su je producirali
po humcima i jarcima.
Spušta se jesen, bit će da je to.

© Goran Čolakhodžić
De: Na kraju taj vrt
Zagreb: Jesenski i Turk, 2015
Producción de Audio: Croatian P.E.N. Centre

Hunt

I hunted hares

abundantly and inaudibly:

the crosshair killed, no shots were fired,

furry bags fell promptly down

on the parched grass in the dusk. They remained

stiff, eyes open, with not a drop of blood

on their clenched wounds: in fact, ridiculous,

innocuous in their death which had not

taken over life, and so was see-through.

I did not run out of bullets,

and neither did they of death: they produced it constantly

in ditches and on mounds.

Autumn is falling, it’ll be that.

Translation: Goran Čolakhodžić